Lockheed Martin Australia has been awarded a five year contract by the Commonwealth to sustain the RAAF’s four tactical air defence radar systems (TADRS).
The $50 million contract will sustain the four systems and support 25 existing and five new Lockheed Martin Australia systems, hardware, and logistics engineers, technicians, program managers, commercial and business staff.
“This is a great example of the importance of partnerships between Defence and industry with the creation of additional highly skilled positions in what is a vibrant regional defence hub,” Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said in a statement. “With more than 90 per cent of the contract dedicated to Australian industry content, this project not only delivers new technology for a cutting edge ADF, but also represents an enormous opportunity for Australian industry.”
In a company statement, Lockheed Martin Australia Chief Executive Joe North said, “The TADRS is absolutely vital to Australia’s ability to rapidly deploy air surveillance as well as command and control functions wherever the mission requires.
“We are proud to have provided sustainment services in support of Australia’s TADRS capability for sixteen years and the award of this new contract will ensure the continuation of the TADRS Program well into the future,” he added. “Lockheed Martin Australia is proud to continue providing the service to the RAAF, with our core workforce of 25 highly skilled Australians supporting the program across the country,”
The deployable TADRS system entered service with the RAAF in 2004, and has been upgraded several time since then. Based on the AN/TPS-77 long-range radar systems, the RAAF’S four TADRS systems are operated and maintained by 3 Control and Reporting Unit (3CRU) at RAAF Williamtown and 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit (114MCRU) at Darwin, both elements of 41WG.